Retired librarian bludgeoned to death by cannabis thug - for refusing to give him a cigarette

Susan Grundy, 56, was walking home after an evening with friends when Stephen Browning approached her for a cigarette.

When she refused, Browning, a convicted thug who had just been bailed by police after a drunken outburst, unleashed the most sickening attack.

He punched, kicked and stamped on Mrs Grundy more than 20 times, Bradford Crown Court heard.

High on a cocktail of drink and drugs, he then stripped her naked, sexually assaulted her and left her dying on the ground.

Then he went to a nearby nightclub and bought a round of drinks with £50 he had stolen from her purse.

Browning, 31, who admitted murder, was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 25 years.

Mr Justice McKinnon told him: "This was a cowardly and vicious attack on a wholly innocent and defenceless woman you did not know as she walked towards her home."

Mrs Grundy, who loved the Yorkshire coast, had retired to Bridlington with her husband David, a former art teacher, four years ago for a better life.

Mr Grundy died of cancer in 2005 aged 63.

James Goss QC, prosecuting, said that at the time of the attack, Mrs Grundy had been rebuilding her life and was probably the happiest she had been since her husband's death.

"She was a kind and caring person," he said.

"She cared for other people's gardens, and was acting as a carer for a neighbour."

Also a former librarian and a graduate in social science, Mrs Grundy had worked in the ambulance service before becoming a lecturer in first aid.

On the day of the murder on January 23, she had played bingo at the British Legion and gone to a pub with friends, before walking home around midnight.

Browning, of Bridlington, had been drinking with eight friends and was believed to have taken prescription drugs when he spotted her yards from the safety of her home.

Two weeks earlier, he had been released from a fourmonth jail term for an assault on his girlfriend in November 2006.

After his release on January 9, he went to his sister's home and got drunk, before being arrested for breaching the peace and obstructing a police officer.

He was still on bail at the time of the murder. He was also separated from his wife, whom he had attacked in 2002.

After the murder he fled to Sunderland and Middlesbrough before being arrested two days later.

"He was caught after his parents rang the police after recognising a CCTV image of Browning on television," Mr Goss told the court.

David Hatton QC, defending, said: "He was high on a cocktail of prescription drugs and awash with alcohol."

Detectives said Mrs Grundy had been killed because she had dared to stand up to her 14-stone attacker.

Humberside Police detective chief inspector Christine Kelk said: "Stephen Browning is a vicious and sadistic bully.

"It is right that he should spend the best part of his life behind bars.

"The attack on Susan Grundy was savage and brutal and he attacked her in the street yards from safety. The injuries were horrific."

Mrs Grundy's next door neighbour, Christine Robinson, said: "Words cannot express our sorrow.

"Sue was a lady full of life who has helped so many people. She never deserved this."